Peoria officials, eight groups join to create East Bluff initiative

PEORIA — A joint effort is attempting to help the middle class return to the East Bluff.

City officials have formed a union with eight groups — some private businesses, some not-for-profits — to create Partners for a Better East Bluff.

The initiative seeks to use $3 million in National Foreclosure Settlement money to demolish problematic properties, build and rehabilitate residences and provide lending, credit counseling and other financial services.

“There’s not a lot of efforts where so many people come together and collaborate like this,” said Erik Reader, an official with the project’s lead agent, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. “It’s great to see a lot of people at the table.”

On the table Thursday for a meeting of the Peoria Planning and Zoning Commission is to be one of the initiative’s projects. The commission is to rule on land-use changes that, if the City Council approves, will allow for construction of eight duplexes in the East Village Growth Cell.

Most of the East Bluff south of McClure Avenue is located in the growth cell. So is a portion of the North Valley, between Interstate 74 and Wayne Street.

The duplexes are to be rented to individuals with disabilities. But another facet of the initiative targets homeowners.

A total of 14 housing units — four new, 10 rehabilitated — is to be developed, Reader said. It is not intended to be low-income housing. A family of four can earn about $100,000 annually and qualify for ownership.

“The really nice thing is that it swings the pendulum the whole other way,” said Nicole Frederick, a grants coordinator for the city. “We’re not talking about gentrification. When this was a strong, core neighborhood, it was always a working-class, middle-class neighborhood.”

The East Bluff has been the hardest-hit foreclosure area of Peoria in recent times, Reader said. More than 60 percent of East Bluff housing stock is rental or vacant, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

“Over the last 10 to 20 years, it’s almost been a flip-flop of home ownership and rentals,” Reader said.

Funding comes from part of $70 million the Illinois Attorney General’s Office received as a result of a $25 billion settlement with mortgage servicers accused of fraudulent practices.

The city’s main role is to demolish 20 structures and provide supplemental resources and services.

Increasing property values and generating tax-increment financing money for future projects are among initiative goals. An unofficial goal, perhaps, is restoring some vigor to a once-proud part of Peoria.

“It’s definitely going to be a morale booster,” said 3rd District City Councilman Tim Riggenbach, who represents most of the growth cell.

“You need more than morale. But to see the new construction going on and the real dollars invested in your neighborhood has to give you some reassurance that you’re in a good place. That all is not lost.”

Nick Vlahos can be reachedat 686-3285 or nvlahos@pjstar.com.Follow him on Twitter @VlahosNick.